FEATURES

Student Postmortem - Igneous

By Ben Gable

It all started when four Digipen students banded together to try to "win IGF." What began as a complex arena combat game eventually evolved into a simple, refined platformer that went on to be featured in the IGF student showcase. Read on for valuable lessons from the hectic development process behind this successful student project.

Flash Forward

By Adam Saltsman

The Flash platform has recently had a resurgence in game development, from indies to traditional game prototyping. On top of being quite powerful for 2D game creation, it's also quite free! This tutorial, written by Canabalt and Gravity Hook creator Adam Saltsman, will take you from start to finish making a simple platformer in Flixel.

Make Games, Not War

By Jesse Venbrux

You don't need to be a trained programmer to start creating games on your own. Many tools and resources enable even the most inexperienced aspiring developer to design and develop their own projects. Even simpler than Flash is Game Maker, which has both free and pro options, while still remaining affordable. Here, Karoshi maker Jesse Venbrux takes you step by step through the creation of a simple shooting game.

The Big Leap

By Brandon Sheffield

Student games have been getting more and more notice from big publishers and developers over the last few years. Whether the students were absorbed into a developer like Valve's Portal team, or a new company was created, as in the case of thatgamecompany (Flower), more student games have been making professional transitions. In this interview, four such developers talk about how they moved from the student world to the professional game industry, and what aspiring developers should do to prepare themselves.

DEPARTMENTS/COLUMNS

Game Plan

Brandon Sheffield
Think Different!

Who to Know & What to Do

A guide to the industry's important events and organizations.

Educated Play

Jeffrey Fleming
A collection of tales from student and indie developers on development and design.

Salary Survey

Brandon Sheffield and Jeffrey Fleming
A comprehensive breakdown of salaries for entry-level developers.

Top 10 Student Games

Tim W. Boon
An overview of several important indie games that went pro.

Hobby Video Game Development

Chris DeLeon
Thirteen questions to help those who want to make free games on their own.

Competitive Spirit

Tim W. Boon
An introduction to popular Indie game competitions.

Student Project Disasters!

Matthew Burns
Tips for how to use development mistakes to your advantage.

School Directory

A list of schools with game development programs in North America and overseas.

Game Developer Magazine Monthly
is a monthly email update from Game Developer magazine featuring upcoming articles, new blog posts, and content extras from gdmag.com. You do not have to subscribe to the magazine to receive this newsletter.